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18 <br />1 <br />state law. The proposed Department would be staffed by a director, a civil rights specialist, an <br />2 <br />intake specialist and a Limited English Proficiency Specialist/Outreach Coordinator. <br />3 <br />4 <br />It is proposed that Annette Moore would have a dual role (50/50) as both the Department <br />5 <br />Director and a Staff Attorney. The intake specialist will provide administrative support to Human <br />6 <br />Rights and Relations as well as the County Attorney’s Office. The duties of the staff attorney <br />7 <br />will be spread among the three staff attorneys in the County Attorney’s Office. Staff in the <br />8 <br />Human Rights and Relations division now housed in the Whitted Building would be relocated to <br />9 <br />office space in the Link Government Services Center. <br />10 <br />11 <br />Human Relations Commission Bylaw Changes <br />12 <br />The County Manager met with the Human Relations Commission to inform them of the <br />13 <br />proposed changes. The Bylaws of the Human Relations Commission will require minor changes <br />14 <br />to facilitate realignment of the functions of Human Rights and Relations; no substantive <br />15 <br />changes are being proposed. <br />16 <br />17 <br />Bonnie Hammersley made the following PowerPoint presentation: <br />18 <br />19 <br />DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELATIONS <br />20 <br />21 <br />PURPOSE <br />22 <br />To consider approving the recommendationto separate the Division of Human Rights and <br />23 <br />Relations from the current Department of Housing, Human Rights and Community <br />24 <br />Development into a separate Department referred to as the Human Rights and Relations. <br />25 <br />26 <br />After passage of the Civil Rights Ordinance in 1994, the Board of County <br />27 <br />Commissioners (the "Board") authorized the creation of the Department of Human <br />28 <br />Rights and Relations on December 20, 1994. <br />29 <br />On February 16, 2010 the Board approved merging the Office of Human Rights and <br />30 <br />Relations into the Housingand Community Development <br />31 <br />In June 2017, HUD conducted an onsite performance assessment of the County’s <br />32 <br />FHAP program. Specific concerns related to three areas: the quality and timeliness of <br />33 <br />complaint processing; financial management of the program; and the organizational <br />34 <br />structure and reoccurring management and staffing changes. As a result of HUD’s <br />35 <br />concerns Orange County was placed on a 90-day Performance Improvement Plan <br />36 <br />(“PIP”), beginning November 1, 2017 ending January 31, 2018. <br />37 <br />The re-creation of the Department of Human Rights and Relations is in response to the <br />38 <br />Performance Improvement Plan. <br />39 <br />40 <br />The core functions of the Department of Human Rights and Relations include: <br />41 <br />•Enforcement of the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance; <br />42 <br />•Administration of the Housing and Urban Development Fair Housing Assistance <br />43 <br />44 <br />Program Agreement ("FHAP"): <br />45 <br />•Education, Outreach and Training on rights under the Civil Rights Ordinance; <br />46 <br />•Staffing the Human Relations Commission and their education and outreach activities; <br />47 <br />•Coordinating County efforts to eliminate or reduce limited English proficiency as a <br />48 <br />barrier to access or understand Orange County government services, program or <br />49 <br />benefits <br /> <br />